Graduate students began a weeklong strike Tuesday morning, chanting slogans and carrying signs along a picket line across College Walk as they protested the University's refusal to bargain with the graduate student union.

Economics has been reclassified as a STEM major for Columbia College and General Studies students, the International Students and Scholars Office announced on Wednesday. This means that international students studying economics are now eligible to stay an extra two years in the United States after graduation under a federal law that benefits international students with STEM degrees.

Columbia has decided not to bargain with graduate students and will instead seek a review of the status of teaching and research assistants in federal court, Provost John Coatsworth announced in a letter to the Columbia community on Tuesday.

Sophomore Hannah Weiss, a student at the School of General Studies and the Jewish Theological Seminary, died in a plane crash in Costa Rica on Sunday, according to an email sent to students by a JTS administrator. She was 19 years old.

Columbia history professor William Harris retired on Monday as part of the settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit against the University, administrators announced in an email to Graduate School of Arts and Sciences students and faculty.

Hiding instruments and ducking Public Safety officers, the Columbia University Marching Band held its Orgo Night performance in room 209 of Butler Library Thursday night, defying a decision by administrators that has denied them access to the library since last December.